Duane Bedell

Aaniin! (Ojibwa for hello!). Are you looking for an exceptional Ed Tech and IT instructor? Do you want an instructor that genuinely cares about you as a person and student while assisting your works and promoting continued development? Are you looking for a leader for your higher education institution? Then, let me introduce you to Duane Bedell, who meets these criteria and more!

Hardware

Duane Bedell is multi-disciplined. He is the department chair of computer science for a community college, a 15-year instructor of computer science and other education classes at 4 different respected institutions, a 15-year educational technology professional, a 20-year information technology professional, a curriculum designer, student, and even finds time to volunteer. Even with these extensive commitments, Duane still finds the time to make himself available to assist his students and truly desires for them to succeed.

Duane once stated, “I am not afraid to tackle anything”. This holds true as he progresses his studies in the University of Michigan-Flint’s Ed.S. program in Educational Leadership and has lofty goals to continue his training while pursuing a terminal Ed.D. If you know a little about Duane, you understand that this will not be the end of his education.

Duane is extremely knowledgeable of what he teaches, he has more patience than anyone could ever hope to have, it appears he has spent countless hours helping his students and never once seemed to be bothered, he understands different personalities, he simplifies lessons without changing them, he promotes the inquisitive mind, he encourages questioning, and helps his students when they are in states of need, frustration, and even fear.

HTML (His Teaching More or Less)

Duane’s style of teaching encourages students to ask questions, embrace challenges, and to not be afraid to try new things.

“Don’t be afraid to play, don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty, immerse yourself into anything that you want to try!”

His tenacity when it comes to learning is inspiring to his students and encourages them to reach for their goals without fear of failure. After all, he does not believe in true failure, just learning opportunities. Duane allows the students to attempt to figure it out on their own, and if that does not bring absolute success, then he facilitates supplemental instruction until it does.

His selfless disposition is apparent, as he is genuinely concerned about his students. He is not only concerned about his students’ successes in his classes, but with other academic, personal, and professional goals as well. His work, direction, and leadership has inspired others to embrace the challenge - the endeavor that is enrichment.

Operating System

When asked how the Ed-Tech program at UM-Flint has impacted Duane, he explained:

“I assumed that since I knew technology and worked with technology on a daily basis, I assumed that I could just implement this into curriculums. However, as I was working through this program, I learned that it’s not always about the technology, but how you use the technology to reach people, how to use technology to help people reach their goals, and how to use technology as a tool.”

Duane undoubtedly achieves this ideal. He is a teacher who will go the extra mile to help his students and he understands how technology can aid in educating educators who will pay it forward by educating future generations.

Restart (If Needed)

Duane’s advice to all students and professionals of Ed Tech regarding the improvement of Ed Tech understanding and continued competency – try, try again.

“Keep going until you learned what you want. Don’t be afraid to take risks, always be willing to play with the tools, and just don’t let it intimidate you”

The best way to learn something is to do it. This is Duane’s philosophy and what he preaches:

“I like to try things just to see if they work”.

Software

One critical element to development and education is to not lose sight of what our ancestors fought so hard to provide for us to enjoy and maintain.

Duane Hails to the Victors, but he originally hails from The Place of the Pike, or Bay Mills Indian community, in northern Upper Peninsula Michigan and lives among the Ojibwa people. Like most of us, Duane would like the customs of his ethnicity to live, be embraced, and be practiced. The difference is Duane did something about it. He created a project that brings him great pride.

“The purpose of my project is to encourage our youth to use social media to learn the Ojibwa language”

He chose this route because of the expansive reach of social media and the ability to reach so many people. He also stated that it wouldn’t hurt the older generations to learn how to utilize social media.

He welcomes viewers and learners to his site with the phrase ‘Aaniin! Ngichinendamimi gii-bi-dagoshnim maampii jiigbiig gnoozhekaaning!‘, which means ‘Hello! We are happy you arrived here at the beach, at the Place of the Pike!’ If that does not make you want to set up a beach chair with some iced tea and stay a while, I do not know what would. He simply calls his project Gnoozedkaaning, pronounced ‘Ganooshik-ahnin’.

“I really believe this project could take off if more communities were involved with promoting the use of social media as a means to deliver language.”

Duane is in the process of revitalizing this program and hopes that universities will adopt it for use in their cultural and language departments. If you would like to know more about Duane's project you can check out the website here.

 

Software Update

Duane promotes continuing education and achievement by exhibiting the best model – leading by example.

“We are educators, we are learners, we have to continually strive to do things to improve ourselves.”

Duane does not just want to influence the field of education as an educator, but he is working towards his specialist and doctorate in educational leadership so he can one day lead an institution into the next era and beyond. Duane is studying to become a future leader in the field of education. His goal to become the President of a higher education institution.

Networks

To connect with Duane or to learn more about his works, you can find him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Log Out

Miigwech (Thank you) for reading and miigwech Duane for all that you do.

Any coach can succeed with good player talent, but it takes a great leader to take one who struggles and turn him or her into a champion and best. Insert theoretical plugin of an external microphone drop here.

“If you are truly passionate about anything, you will find a way to accomplish that goal”  

Written by Tom Grady, April 2017